


A Candle's Tale

by Dawnlit_Waters



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Memories, Oaths & Vows, Time Skips
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-13
Updated: 2018-04-13
Packaged: 2019-04-22 08:19:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14304618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dawnlit_Waters/pseuds/Dawnlit_Waters
Summary: As darkness fell upon the great house that was no longer a home, the candle and its fellows cast a halo around a pair of closed bronze caskets resting there.Having sent off the last visitor, the boy returned to the caskets. Gazing at the candle flames flickering in the icy draft, he wondered quietly how long the candles would last.The butler told him those candles were made of beeswax, and thus, with proper care, they might last for a good several decades if not more.-Over the years, one special candle witnessed many events in the Wayne household.





	A Candle's Tale

"Long, long ago, a candle arrived at a manor wrapped in a package under a butler's arm along with eleven other ones.

"Since then, it lay undisturbed within a drawer inside the butler's pantry amid its fellows, until one day a boy opened the drawer by chance during one of his 'great explorations' inside the house.

"He asked the butler if they could use the candles for his parents' anniversary dinner—they shared the same beautiful, snowy hue with the pearl necklace his dad was giving his mom.

"Putting down the household books he'd been examining, the butler explained to the boy his father had managed to track down the scented artisan candles adorning he and his wife's first dinner date for the special occasion.

"The boy begged the butler to tell him what else he knew about his father's plan for the anniversary, forgetting all about the candles he'd just found.

"However, they didn't remain forgotten for long.

"Mere weeks later, the butler emptied the candle drawer in preparation for the boy's parents' wake. With great care and sadness, he placed its content among the flower arrangements in the great hall.

"As darkness fell upon the great house that was no longer a home, the candle and its fellows cast a halo around a pair of closed bronze caskets resting there.

"Having sent off the last visitor, the boy returned to the caskets. Gazing at the candle flames flickering in the icy draft, he wondered quietly how long the candles would last.

"The butler told him those candles were made of beeswax, and thus, with proper care, they might last for a good several decades if not more.

"When the butler had finally succeeded in persuading the boy to get some rest, the boy took the candle with him to his bedroom.

"By the candle's light, the boy made a vow to spend the rest of his life warring on all criminals. It was the first vow the candle had witnessed in its lifetime. There would be more to follow, none of which had ever been broken.

"After that night, the candle, laden with the boy's solemn words, spent a decade and a half in solitude.

"By the time the candle reunited with the boy, the boy had become a man. The man picked the candle up with trembling fingers. He clutched it tight against his chest as he made his way down to the cave below the house. There waited another boy, a boy so like yet so different from the boy the man used to be.

"The man told the boy the candle's story, his voice soft and deep.

"With the candle between them, the man and the boy joined their hands—one massive and gloved in gauntlet; the other one bare, small, yet hardened from years of acrobatics—and made another vow, a vow so like yet so different from the vow the man had made as a boy: henceforth, they would fight against crime and corruption _together_.

"Bathed in the light and warmth radiating from the candle, the boy threw his arms around the man and held on tight. Somewhat awkwardly, the man stroked the boy's heaving back.

"The candle stayed in the cave. Enclosed in a small glass case, it was inconspicuous among the ever-growing collection of striking souvenirs from crime-fighting adventures.

"For a long while, long enough for any boy to grow into a man, the candle was visited only by occasional adventurous bats and the dutiful butler's feather duster.

"Then, in the small hours of one night, a weary, restless young man wandered to its side.

"He carried the candle to a graveyard. Cradling it to his breast, he stood so still facing an unmarked grave that he'd have been mistaken as a statue had there been another living soul around. The tears trailing down his cheeks found company in the wax drops the candle shed. The young man and the candle wept and wept until the night came to an end.

"The next time the butler dusted the candle during his seasonal cleaning, he let out a heavy, broken sigh.

"The time after that, he was crooning a merry tune.

"A third boy sidled up to the candle one day. With a scowl firmly on his face, he stared at it long and hard. At last, he nodded to himself and vanished.

"The man and the young man visited the candle side by side not long afterward. The young man broke the comfortable silence between them by proposing they should make candlelit vows tradition. Winding his arm around his companion's shoulders, the man hummed in agreement.

"One by one, a host of candles of various shapes, sizes, and colors joined the candle.

"Later on, the candle served as a witness once more, this time to not one but a set of vows.

"Illuminated by candlelight, the man and the young man joined their hands just like how they did many years ago and pledged themselves to each other. As they sealed the vows with a kiss, their shadows on the cave wall melted together.

"The following morning saw the young man bring the third boy to the candle's side to tell him all about it. The third boy listened with close attention, even though he'd already pieced most of what he heard together himself.

"When the man turned grey, and the young man was no longer young, the third boy—a grown man by then—made his own candlelit vow. With the two men and the candle watching him, he promised to dedicate his life to the crusade against crime in the footsteps of his fathers.

"Decades had passed before the candle was lit again. The formerly young man stood it on the ground in front of a freshly carved headstone, one that was surrounded by a sea of candles forming the shape of a bat. The candle's flame, along with the numberless flames around it, brightened his wrinkled face, on which tear tracks ran past a serene smile.

"The candle burned out when dawn arrived. Its remains became one with the land we all call 'home.'"

* * *

"And that, my dear, is how this patch of wax came to be. I hope your curiosity is satisfied." The old man turns to look at the little girl sitting beside him on the bench.

Rubbing her eyes, the girl replies shyly, "Sorry, grandpa. I fell asleep halfway. The story is long, and it's so warm in the sun."

"It's alright, Martha.” The old man ruffles her dark locks, a gentle smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "I can retell the parts you missed."

"Can it wait? Now I want to know about that bird there!"

In the direction her tiny finger points, there is a marble sculpture of a robin. It perches on the top of a headstone that stands shoulder to shoulder alongside the one decorated by the patch of wax.

"Are you sure, little lady? Mind you, the story behind that robin is a long one too."

**Author's Note:**

> The depiction of young Dick's vow to fight crimes varies across different versions of Robin's origin. In some renditions, he swore together with Bruce; in others, he swore to Bruce. While writing this fic, I chose to stick to [the original version in Detective Comics #38](https://i.imgur.com/vt2tIfk.jpg), in which the former is the case.
> 
> -
> 
> English isn't my mother tongue, and this piece is unbetaed. I apologize in advance for mistakes in the text.
> 
> Feedback is love. Feedback is life. <3


End file.
